Historic Treasure of the Week - August 23, 1992
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - August 23, 1992
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
"Hand Girl" prospered in 4-H years ago
It was summer in the late 1920s.
Glenn Yeager, a well-educated mother living in Terre Haute, was looking for constructive activities to keep her seven young daughters busy and close to home.
Her sister and children lived on a farm in Sullivan County and were active in 4-H. It seemed a perfect solution.
Soon Yeager and her older daughters brought 4-H involvement from that rural area to Terre Haute and they began numerous projects as well as junior leadership.
For Mary Glenn, the second oldest Yeager daughter, 40H was one of the strongest influences in her life. The 4-H slogan--"To make the best better"--became her creed.
One of her early projects was child development. The object of the project was her youngest sister, Emily, who was 14 years younger than Mary Glenn. Any mother would encourage this activity, for it included dressing, bathing and entertaining the little 3-year-old child.
During eight years in 4-H, Mary Glenn made at least 75 articles of clothing, and set her sights on national competition. She decided to make a dress of crinkled, brown silk crepe. The fabric was sprinkled with gold felt dots. She bought the fabric at Levi Dry Goods Co. at Fifth and Wabash.
This competition involved problem solving. One of Mary Glenn’s biggest problems was that the felt dots were heavier than the silk and wouldn’t flatten when they were stitched. Even if the flaw didn’t show, Mary Glenn would take out and rework any stitch that wasn’t perfect.
Her efforts were rewarded when she won first place in "Best Dress" at the National 4-H Style Review in Chicago in December in 1935. Her entry into national competition was signed by Orville Redenbacher, the county agent.
In the July 1936 issue of "Country Home" magazine, Mary Glenn Yeager was named "Hand Girl" representing the third "H" in 4-H--the one standing for "Hand." She was given this distinction because "she can turn her hand to so many things successfully."
After graduating from Wiley High School in 1936, Mary Glenn went to Purdue University on a scholarship and graduated with a degree in home economics.
She then went to Tulsa, Okla., where she worked for the National Dairy Council, and met and married Martin K. Smith, a chemical engineer.
Mary Glenn later moved with her husband and two children to New Jersey where she organized the Dairy Council in that state, received a master’s degree in education from New York University and became executive director for the dairy council in northern New Jersey.
Now living in Houston, Mary Glenn never has been content to sit and watch the years go by. She has done genealogical research, puts out a neighborhood newsletter, does copper plate calligraphy and hot air ballooning.
Mary Glenn Yeager Smith still has the dress that won in national 4-H competition in 1935. She has loaned it to the Vigo County Historical Society for its current exhibit about 4-H in Vigo County.
The magazine was found at an antique sale by Dorothy Jerse, who loaned it to the historical society.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.